
Comrade Dan's statement about factual incorrectness is great news to me. Up to now, nowhere has it been officially declared that "participation in the Duma" is permissible{93}. Neither Parvus nor Plekhanov has even said this up to now. Furthermore, not to take into account that the conscious section of the proletariat views the question in one way and not another would be narrow for us, and we do take it into account—this is not an accidental fact. I am prepared to introduce an amendment: "the overwhelming majority" instead of "all."


Comrade Dan's official statement is particularly valuable to me; I am hearing such a statement for the first time generally. One can only wish that it appear in print, since up to now nothing of the sort has appeared in print. The Mensheviks have always even protested if such an opinion was attributed to them. The leaflet of the United Central Committee asserts that both sections of the party agree that one cannot go into the Duma{94}. This is a document, and nothing in this point of our resolution contradicts it. Regarding Plekhanov, Dan's remark is incorrect. He simply said: "I am against the boycott," and put a period at the most interesting place. We are sufficiently informed, and the reference to Poltava has not shaken our opinion about the view of the majority of the proletariat on the question of participation in the Duma. Solidarity must be emphasized.


Dan thinks that once the Duma assembles, that will already be 1849. That is not true. The Duma is the United Landtag of 1847{95}, and we will not go to the United Landtag of 1847. I consider it necessary to take Lunacharsky's remarks into account. I consider it necessary to answer three questions: 1) Is it true that the majority is right? — it is true; no one has refuted us, everything that was said is baseless and cannot serve as a sufficient ground for striking out the reference to the fact; 2) Should we take this fact into account? — it is necessary to take it into account; 3) How does the editorial board of the Central Organ relate to the question addressed in this point of the argumentation? — I assert that it recognized participation in the Duma as impossible. I did not think that this would wound our Menshevik comrades so much; up to now no one has ever or anywhere said anything like what comrade Dan has said. Comrade Dan is wavering, and I am very sorry about this.


They say that everything that follows is filled with polemics. That is not true; we would not have set ourselves such goals. Why cannot one go to the Duma? Because the people might think that it is worthwhile to vote independently of what our Menshevik comrades think about the people. We are not scolding; we are analyzing the argument. We consider it necessary to send only dummies.
